


Romance Tarot

by Seagoatink



Series: Navigator of Dangers [7]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 08:21:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9713141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seagoatink/pseuds/Seagoatink
Summary: Her hand caught the cords and she pulled the gift in question from the pouch. Instead of thrusting it forward into his reach, as she imagined she likely would, Kaaras held the two halves of the whole dragon tooth to her chest and turned her wrist so her palm faced him. The large pendants twirled around her wrists and into the view of his eye.He said nothing as his eye darted from her face to the dragon tooth necklaces in her iron grip hold.





	

Of all the days to be mild, it was truly a wonder to Kaaras how the skies knew to be clear, and the wind to calm itself. To clear her head, she walked the battlements between the mage tower and the gardens below. Above her, the balcony of her room cast a shadow over the mountains below. Months of being Inquisitor told her that in her absence, Josephine was stacking papers up at her desk to be signed. Something inside Kaaras did not mind, because it did not matter.

A hand slipped into the pouch attached to her hip. She felt like one of the girls who lived in town when she was young. They would squeal over love letters and dinner dates arranged by wishful parents. It was not a feeling she ever dreamed of relating to, let alone longed for.

Yet there she stood on the battlements overlooking the mountains surrounding her fortress, anxious. Her heart was light, and she knew she could never mistake this airy feeling with the heaviness of nerves before battle. Her fingers traced the dragon’s tooth, split in two.

To each piece she had fastened a red cord. That was the easiest part of the process. Carefully splitting the tooth was near impossible. Killing the damn dragon was an adrenaline rush and good fun with Bull at her side. Though he looked at her differently now, like a lover, rather than a simple companion. All the struggle was worth it, for that Kaaras was sure. 

The process was so specific even Bull had told her it was not at all necessary, because he knew where he stood with her. His feelings were set in stone, almost in a dwarven sense. Almost, unless Gatsi or another from Orzammar’s opinion was had.

She wondered if he felt not worth the effort as she entered the garden. Royal Elfroot and Andraste’s Grace were coming along nicely, but her Rashvine Nettle was hardly flourishing. For a time she conversed with Skyhold’s herbalist, Elan, but was interrupted by one of the messenger boys with a message from Cabot. “I can take your letter to him, I’m headed there,” Kaaras informed the woman casually.

Almost everyone around Skyhold knew of her relations with The Iron Bull. The Inquisitor was also known for her lips, sealed tight when it came to secrets. After all, hardly a soul knew of her mage brother from the North until he stood trial like some common criminal. The smaller woman handed the parchment over. “Do it and I’ll nurse your Rashvine Nettle back to health,” she bartered.

Kaaras offered as friendly a face as she could and took the letter. “Thank you, Elan,” she replied before leaving the garden. 

Now she could not avoid Herald’s Rest. She was on a quest for Elan and the health of her Rashvine Nettle depended on it. The tamassran pushed the letter across the counter to Cabot with payment for two mugs of ale. When he returned to serve the drinks he nodded his head in thanks and let her go on her merry way without another word.

As she climbed the stairs for Bull’s room, Kaaras chose to ignore the hushed whispers about. She knew that her relationship was no secret. Today, her mind was set on Bull and Bull alone. None of the nobles, visiting dignitaries, or even the refugees would deter her from her path.

Upon finally reaching the landing between the smallest sets of stairs, the woman knocked on the door with her elbow. Bull appeared on the otherside, and with a cheeky smile he took a step to the side and let Kaaras into his room.

The roof still had not been repaired, but he did not seem to mind. After all, he rarely stayed for long. Even when he did, he was sure to visit a chantry sister’s tent or Adaar’s room deep within the fortress. Still she entered, stifling a giggle as she passed the axe shoved into the foot of the bed.

Kaaras set their mugs down on the stand beside the bed and waited for Bull to join her by her side. He avoided her horns as though everyone had the same set as her, and part of her was envious of his ease as he kissed her cheek. “Come down from the clouds, Kadan,” he muttered against the curve of her horn as near to her ear as he could manage.

His arms slid around her waist as he plopped down on his bed and pulled her standing form between his legs. “Bull,” she muttered, letting her hips come into contact with his chest as he kissed her exposed stomach. 

“The clouds, Kadan,” Bull insisted, placing his lips to her navel once more. His thumbs rubbed circles into her hips, feeling the tension of the day’s duties still set in her muscles.

A hand cupped the back of his horn, its fingers hovering over his scalp before sinking to his shoulder and directing him away. Kaaras leaned down to place a kiss on his brow. “I’ve brought you a gift,” she told him as her free hand reached into her pocket. Nerves began to set in her shoulders and forearms and for a moment she feared she would lose control of her hand.

Her hand caught the cords and she pulled the gift in question from the pouch. Instead of thrusting it forward into his reach, as she imagined she likely would, Kaaras held the two halves of the whole dragon tooth to her chest and turned her wrist so her palm faced him. The large pendants twirled around her wrists and into the view of his eye.

He said nothing as his eye darted from her face to the dragon tooth necklaces in her iron grip hold.

Kaaras paled and her breath shook with hesitation and worry. But she kept firm to her silence in hopes that he would speak his mind.

Bull took her hand in his hands, the necklaces dangling between them, and kissed her knuckles with care.

Long ago someone else had promised to make the pendants for him, but they had long since passed. It was not because he was Tal-Vashoth now, nor was it due to distance. It was a flame that faded out. But this was with Kaaras. This was something else.

She knew very little in ways of the Qun or even in the significance of the dragon tooth necklaces she carried in her hands. Bull remembered insisting she did not need to go out of her way for a tradition from a culture her parents threw to the streets in favor of a life without the Qun. He felt it was not necessary for her to prove her love in the way he knew.

“Kadan,” the man whispered against her knuckles before finally leaving them in favor of staring up at her.

Seeing him accept the gift in such a tender manner relieved the tension and worry, allowing her to catch her breath. Her expression softened as he gazed up at her, his mind full of thoughts she worried she would never fully understand. “It’s from the Northern Hunter, our first dragon,” Kaaras informed him in a hushed tone.

“You don’t know what this means to me,” said Bull as he placed his forehead onto her knuckles.

“I don’t,” she replied. The last thing she wanted to do was to imply she knew every last thing in the world, especially so when it came to subjects he held most dear. Carefully, she leaned down to place a kiss atop his head once more. Then she took her hand from his hold so she could tie his necklace around his neck. “But in time, I hope to understand,” Kaaras promised him, her voice barely above a whisper as she knotted the cord with itself at the back of his neck.

“The gift itself is phenomenal,” Bull swore as he took the other necklace from her hands and motioned her downward. She turned her back to him and knelt on the floor so he could fasten the pendant with ease. “When we fell the Northern Hunter, did you know about the pendant?” He found himself asking as he secured the knot.

The woman moved to sit next to him and shook her head. “Not exactly, no. My parents had them, but I never knew them as much more than ornaments like Orlesian jewels,” explained Kaaras. She found herself lying back on the bed and pulling Bull with her so he could rest his head on her chest.

“It means more than any Orlesian jewelry could,” Bull retorted with a huff.

She stroked the back of his head and nodded. “I know that now,” she assure him. Something about his statement told her that an Orlesian marriage would never measure up to the meaning of a dragon tooth necklace.

“Wherever our paths take us, we will never be apart.”

**Author's Note:**

> I've had the prompt for this fic for almost a year now. Given it's Valentine's Day and I posted a comfort fic yesterday, I felt it only right that Kaaras return the favor to Bull by showing him how much he truly means to her.


End file.
